United to win: Romanian president initiates creation of training center for Ukrainian marines

President Klaus Iohannis of Romania requested parliamentary approval on Wednesday, September 18, to establish a specialized training center on Romanian soil to train Ukrainian marines.

Euractiv reports this.

In a letter to the parliament, Iohannis emphasized that:

"Recent events in Russia's war against Ukraine emphasized the need to intensify and diversify the training of Ukraine's armed forces."

This training center will aid in training Ukrainian marines within the confines of its available resources.

It said contributions from the international community will help keep the center running, while the UK will provide total funding and planning support for its initial development.

The center will operate for two years, subject to prior approval.

Romania reserves the right to withdraw at any time during the training process or at the end of the agreed period.

It is noted that the corresponding proposal was made within the Ukraine Defense Contact Group framework.

It should be noted that Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tîlvăr said on Wednesday that NATO needs to implement a strong and coordinated reaction to instances where Russian missiles or drones fired at Ukraine violate the alliance's airspace.

For reference:

On July 11, in Washington, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and Romania's President Klaus Iohannis signed the Agreement on cooperation in security.

As reported, in June 2024, the Romanian government agreed to transfer the Patriot system to Ukraine on the condition that NATO allies replace it with an analog. On September 5, Iohannis made public the government-initiated bill on transferring the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system to Ukraine.

It was also reported that Ukrainian military pilots have already started training on F-16 fighters in Romania, which will help increase the number of these aircraft in the Air Force of Ukraine.

In addition, during a joint press conference with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on October 10, 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed plans to establish a training center for F–16 fighter jets in Romania. This would allow Ukrainian pilots to quickly familiarize themselves with the aircraft in the "first wave."

In addition, Romania is considering the possibility of cooperation with Ukraine in developing and producing domestic R-360 Neptune anti-ship missiles.